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(No Model.)

J. W. WINNINGHAM. MILEAGB TICKET.

Patented July 13,1897.

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' J. kam. Qhl( 5y T@ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE IV. IVINNINGI'IAM, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNCR TO THE XVINNINGHAM .LWIILEAGE TICKET COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MILEAG E-TICKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 586,347, dated July 1e, 1897.

Application iiled March 2, 1897.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JESSE W. WINNING-HAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Mileage-Tickets and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and gures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of mileage-tickets that are used more particularly on railways and steamboat-lines, commonly known as one-thousand-mile tickets; and it consists in a mileage strip or ribbon of a certain peculiar design in combination with a suitable retaining-cover provided with an indicator, strip-clamp, strip-guide, and shearing-plate, as will be more fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a mileage-ticket in which fractional portions are detached of such character and design as shall facilitate the problem of determining at what point the portion should be detached and obvia-te the evils and objections of detaching at the wrong point.

In mileage-strips heretofore used the tickettaker is required to perform a mental or written problem, which, under the unfavorable conditions, is liable to error, or in other cases he measures the portion to be detached, which is also liable to error.

In myinvention the process of ascertaining the amount of mileage-strip to be detached is simplied and liability to error is reduced to the minimum, and the devices for holding in place and guiding the strip are a great advantage.

My objects are fully attained in myinvention,which is,furthermore,cheaply constructed and is durable and economical in use.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l represents my mileage-ticket in perspective; Fig. 2, a plan view, and Fig. 3 a front edge view, of combined shearing and guide plate; Fig.

Serial No. 625,786. (No model.)

4, a perspective of the strip-clamp; Fig. 5, a side view of ticket; Fig. 6, a plan view of a portion of strip, and Eig. 7 a detail plan view of portions of strip and indicator.

In the drawings, A designates the cover,and B the strip, of the ticket; E, the indicator; F, the strip-retaining clamp; G and II H, the strip-guides, and I the shear-plate.

In constructing my invention I form the cover A in the usual manner, preferably of strawboard, the part C being the top or front side and the part D being the bottom or back side of the cover, the two parts being hinged together by a binding-piece c of flexible material. Both sides of the top and outside of the bottom of the cover may be suitably printed upon, giving yname of railway company,directions for using the ticket, and other desirable information.

At the front edge upon the outside C of the cover I apply the indicator E, which may be printed on the cover or be stamped upon suitable material and attached to the cover.

The indicator consists of numerals from l to 10,set in spaces between dividing-lines and reading from left to right, as shown.

The clamp F is preferably composed of spring-wire formed of members 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, joined integrally, and is provided at the eX- tremities with eyes f, by which the clamp is secured to the inside of the bottom D by suitable rivets, so that when the folded mileage- ;strip is placed in position in the cover the vspring-clamp shall retain it in position, but

will permit the strip to be drawn out when desired.

The combined guide and shearing-plate is formed integrally of the members Gr, I-I, H, and I. The mileage-strip passes under the member G and between the guides H H and over the shearing-plate I, the guide Ghaving a spring-pressure downward upon the strip and preventing the latter from being drawn over the top of the guides H H as the strip is drawn out. At each end of the shear-plate a lip is turned down by a suitable die or punch, forming, when inserted in suitable openings in the cover and turned over at the opposite side, clench-hooks t t, by which the combination shear and guides are secured.

The mileage-strip is preferably made of pa- IOO extended across the margins.

per and is continuous in length, representing by means of transverse divisional lines, as u s, printed on the face thereof, any desired number consecutively-as, for instance, from one up to one thousand miles-each space O between two transverse lines representing one mile. The strip is slightly narrower than the cover and is adapted to pass neatly between the guides H H. Centrally on the face of the strip are also a series of eleven longitudinal lines t, extending the whole length of the strip and crossing the transverse lines, forming square spaces, as well as continuous columns,

as a b d, the square spaces having numerals inserted therein, as hereinafter described. At the sides of the series of lines are margins e h, upon which, at certain points, are numerals, such as at lo k', on the left-hand margin h, indicating ten miles opposite thetenth space from the beginning and twenty miles opposite the twentieth space from the beginning of the strip. These numbers continue consecutively by tens to the end of the strip, and on the margin e, beginning at the end, are like numerals, ending at the beginning of the strip, as 1,000, at m. The middle longitudinal line and every fifth transverse line are preferably heavier or printed in different color than the other lines. rIwhe transverse line after every tenth space from the beginning is Upon the lefthand margin are also the initials M of the road issuing the ticket, and on the right-hand margin are numerals N, indicating the serialnumber of the ticket, both being preferably printed in color differing from the other characters.

The-columns a b d, &c., are designed to be of the same width as the numbered spaces on the indicator E, the number of spaces in each coinciding. The squares formed by the crossed longitudinal and transverse lines form blocks of one hundred squares, which being subdivided by the heavy lines form blocks of twenty-five squares each. Each c'olumnis numbered from one to ten consecutively and is repeated continuously throughout the length of the strip, there being a numeral in each square space, except in the lefthand corner of the block beginning the stri p, as shown in Fig. 6. The column a begins with number l in the first space, column Z) with number l in the second space, each column following to the left having the number l in the space next advanced from the preceding column, as shown in Fig. G.

In the second block from the eleventh to thetwentieth mile, inclusive, the spaces or squares are all lled with numerals, and it will be observed that the numerals, besides a duplicate of the second block represented between the tenth and vtwenty-first miles.

On the margin h are numerals n, opposite the ninth space in each block, indicating l0 in the second block, 20 in the third block, and so on, progressing consecutively by tens in each block. The strip is folded and suitably secured in the cover as described and may be pasted at its terminal end to the cover.

In practical use the cover C is slightly raised, the end of the strip B is drawn out the desired distance, and the part extending over the edge of the shear-plate det-ached by pressing the strip down over the edge, starting at one edge to shear. The process of determining at what point for any given mileage the strip should be detached is so positive that the most inexperienced need not err, as the numeral l will appear at the head of the strip no matter at what point the preceding mileage may have been detached, and it is only necessary to count from l up to the desired distance by tens and add the fractions of ten indicated after the last ten-space. As lan example, in Fig. 7 the strip is represented as having five miles, part l, detached, which is indicated by the numerals in column a. Now suppose that seven miles are to be detached from the part 2. The irst figure in the right-hand column ct will indicate in which column number l should be found, which in this case is 6. The strip is then slightly drawn out, the cover Cbeing dropped down so that the indicator E is close t-o the strip, when we iind by the indicator that the numeral l is in the sixth column from the right of the strip. Then the strip isdrawn out, the eye being kept upon the column below the figure 6 of the indicator until the space or mile 7 is reached at s. Had eighteen miles been required, the shearing would have been at u by mentally adding 10 and 8, as shown in the column. Should the strip have been sheared at s, the indicator E would show that the computing would occur in the third column from the right, and if sheared at u it would Abegin in the fourth column. For proving accurately the mileage for long trips, as above one hundred, the operation may be written-as, for example, one hundred and thirty-eight miles is required to be taken oif the strip whichhas been sheared at s. The ligure n, whether it be l0, 20, or other number, added tothel first mileage-numeral in the second column b from the right in the same block, will indi-v cate the amount of miles that have been de tached. Inthis case twelve miles would have been removed. Now add 12 to 138 tand we have 150, which would be found in the margin h and that space detached. Should one hundred and forty miles have been substituted, after finding the number 150 the- Ilo additional two miles would be found in co1- umn a. As shown in Fig. 6, we desire to detach eleven miles, which, added to the twelve removed, make twenty-three miles. We find 20 at 71; and 3 in column a, which is sheared on the line u. Thus it will be seen that no subtracting but only simple addition is required in computing, a rule that maybe easily remembered.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to securey by Letters Patent, is-

l. A mileage-ticket consisting of a continuous strip divided by a series of transverse lines into equal spaces throughout its length and by a series of longitudinal lines crossing said transverse lines into square spaces, said square spaces being numbered consecutively from l to l0 from left to right on each tenth mile and from bottom to top in series of ten in each column and arranged as shown, and a cover composed of a front and back provided with an indicator at the front edge of said front, a combined shearing and guide plate at the front edge of the back of said cover, and means for retaining said strip within said cover, substantially as shown and described.

2. A mileage-ticket consisting of a continuous strip having on one side thereof a series of transverse and longitudinal lines forming a series of blocks of one hundred square spaces each continuously, numerals in said spaces as shown, marginal spaces at the sides of said blocks, numerals in said margins as shown, a cover for said strip into which it is retained in folds, an indicator on the top of said cover adapted to indicate the column in which the numeral l appears, and the guides adapted to retain said strip centrally to said indicator, substantially as shown and described.

8. In a mileage-ticket, the combination of the cover provided with the indicator at the front edge of the outside of the top thereof, the spring-clamp secured to the inside of the bottom of said cover, the combined shearing and guide plate secured to the front inside posed consecutively from l to 10 from bottom upward and from left to right, and marginal indicating-numerals as shown, substantially as and for the purposes shown and described.

4. In a mileage-ticket, the combination of the cover comprising the hinged front and back, the mileagestrip folded and secured therein, the retaining-clamp F secured to the inner side of said back, and the combined guides G, H, H, and shearing-plate I secured to the front end of said back at the inner side thereof, substantially as shown and described.

5. In a mileage-ticket, the combination of the cover provided with the indicator at the front edge and the clamps and guides at the inner side of the bottom part, the strip folded and secured therein, the centrally-disposed lines and margins on the face of said strip, said lines being longitudinally continuous and also transversely forming square or rectangular spaces arranged in consecutive blocks of one hundred, the numbers arranged in seriesof ten consecutively in said spaces, beginning with the number l in the corner-space to the right, 1 in the second space to the left and upward and continuing with l in each column to the left progressing upward one space for each following column,

and the numerals and initials in said margins, substantially as shown and described. In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JESSE W. WINNINGHAM. Witnesses:

E. T. SILvIUs, F. M. SrLvIUs. 

